Why Bill Will Meet Sir Ed

By TIME Correspondent Jay Branegan Monday, Sept. 06, 1999
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President Clinton, it seems, will go to almost any length to keep Hillary's name in the public eye — even halfway around the world to New Zealand to meet with Sir Edmund Hillary.

The White House has penciled in a meeting with the Mount Everest conqueror, 80, a living legend in his homeland and probably the most famous New Zealander ever (his face even graces the local $5 bill), during Clinton's state visit next week following the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Auckland. Sir Edmund won't, however, meet the Rodham Clinton Hillary, who is staying home. The White House insists that New York Senate politics has nothing to do with the get-together. Rather, a spokesman said, the President considers the explorer a leading environmentalist and one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century.